Soil Science Journal Club : China

Next journal club meeting - carbon in China

Andrew.Rate — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 05:41:00 GMT

The next meeting (already notified by Talitha) is on Tuesday 7 July, 1pm, second-floor lunch area, Soil Science building, UWA.

The article to be mused upon is :
Piao S, Fang J, Ciais P, Peylin P, Huang Y, Sitch S, Wang T. 2009. Carbon balance of terrestrial ecosystems in China. Nature, 458:1009-1014.

Occasional poetry No.1

Andrew.Rate — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 03:13:00 GMT

1958

that spring, there was a terrible drought
no one could stop
the earth from cracking open
and spilling its shrivelled guts

mice jumped out of rice jars
not a single grain was harvested
but so as not to make the higher-ups lose hope
our considerate village headman

sent people out night after night
first to paint the ground grass-green
then to paint it gold

SONG XIAOXIAN
Translated by Simon Patton

Poem of the week:
http://china.poetryinternationalweb.org/piw_cms/cms/cms_module/index.php?obj_id=973&x=1

Baiji update - alive?

Andrew.Rate — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 02:48:00 GMT

It now seems as though someone may have seen a Baiji, and that perhaps they're not extinct after all!

Read more of the good news at http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/08/30/2019106.htm.

too early to farewell the Baiji

Andrew.Rate — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 05:29:00 GMT

An update on an earlier post ("All the Baiji are gone") - it seems that this unique aquatic mammal may not, after all, be extinct despite being "the first large vertebrate to be declared extinct in more than 50 years".

Apparently Professor Wang Ding, an expert involved in the 2006 Baiji survey still holds some hope that a few Baiji may yet survive, although admitting that any remnant population may be unsustainable.

Read more about this story on the ABC News website.

Image from http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/200708/r167346_623102.jpg

the legend of Bawshou

Andrew.Rate — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 01:59:00 GMT

So I was reading a book, "Bawshou Resecues the Sun" to my daughter in the weekend and it occurred to me that this is yet another instance where soil appears in a significant folk story.

"Bawshou Resecues the Sun" is based on a traditional Han Chinese story about the sun being stolen by the King of devils (variously, a powerful dragon). Bawshou's father dies in an attempt to rescue the sun, even when aided by the golden phoenix. Bawshou continues the quest, helped by the same phoenix, but his success hinges ultimately on reaching the home of the devils across the mighty Eastern ocean. He is able to do this because some helpful villagers give him a packet of "earth" (for which I read soil), which transforms itself into a chain of islands as he sprinkles grains upon the water.

It's also interesting how here, as in many other contexts, the word "earth" is used synonymously with "soil"... but that's for another time.

Bawshou Rescues The Sun, by Chun-Chan Yeh and Allan Baillie, illustrated by Michelle Powell. Ashton Scholastic, Sydney, 1991.

土壤

all the Baiji are gone

Andrew.Rate — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 01:14:00 GMT

Baiji dolphin feared extinct

The Baiji, a rare, nearly blind white dolphin that survived for millions of years is effectively extinct, an international expedition declared after ending a six-week fruitless search of the mammal's Yangtze River habitat.